This invention relates to apparatus for use in computer printing, and more particularly, to a work carrier onto which ordinary stationery may be easily "loaded" for printing, and removed after printing, to yield a document with the appearance of a conventionally typed item.
With the general availability of small so-called "personal" or "micro" computers, it has become possible for individuals and small businesses to take advantage of the word processing capabilities of computers, and to generate large volumes of typed or printed correspondence. In many situations, it is desirable to generate a product which has the appearance of an individually typewritten item, not a preprinted "form" letter.
So-called cut-sheet feeders, operating in conjunction with computer printers, are capable of producing multiple letters on stationery, but the cost of such equipment makes it uneconomical for individuals and small businesses. Cut sheets and stationery have also been glued, or "tipped", to webs usually, the webs being discarded after printing and not designed for reuse.
In another presently used technique, prepared blank forms are provided as a continuous folded web, the edges of which contain tractor feed perforations, engageable by the drive sprockets of a printer to position and advance the web. The portions of the web which contain the perforations are separated from the main body of the web (which is the portion of the web intended for printing) by special score lines, so that after printing, the unwanted portions of the web may be torn away to leave only the printed piece (e.g. an 81/2.times.11 inch "letter").
One important shortcoming with webs of the above-mentioned type is that no matter how well printed they may be, the fact that the material upon which the message is printed must be separated from the surrounding material by score lines makes it impossible for the final product to have the ideal appearance of an individually typed letter, on conventional stationery. The quality of the paper from which the web is formed is dictated at least in part by functional considerations, so the weight, texture and surface finish of the material is limited by the requirements of the printer. It is not economically practical to make the web from the wide variety of textured, tinted or water marked papers which can be used for quality business stationery, nor can the web have such desirable features as engraved letterhead. Thus, although webs of the above-described kind do facilitate fairly rapid printing on an automated and continuous basis, they do not produce a product which, under scrutiny, can give the appearance of an individually typed letter.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide an apparatus which, in association with a printer, cheaply and reliably facilitates the automated printing of individual letters on conventional stationery. An important aspect of this invention is that the apparatus can be reused numerous times.